WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — Winter Garden city commissioners are considering an ordinance that, if passed next month, would put an end to the city’s recycling services.

On Thursday, city commissioners held the first hearing for the recycling ordinance and unanimously voted to carry it for a second hearing on Dec. 12.  

A six-part recycling project conducted by city officials revealed that about 7% of all waste that is collected by the city is actually recycled.

It also determined that in 2019, more than 85% of the recycled materials that Orange County had received were contaminated or not recyclable.

The proposed ordinance has already stirred mixed feelings among residents in the community.

While some say they’re willing to put in the extra work to maintain their recycling services, others say they’re already doing their part and shouldn’t be reprimanded for the contamination of those materials.

“Our city has grown rapidly, and so one would anticipate that our loads would be growing as well," said Nicole Smith, project manager in performance management for the city of Winter Garden. "As you can see, over the course of the last five years we’ve actually seen a reduction (in recyclable loads) of about 22%." 

Smith said one of the primary causes behind the reduction of recyclable loads is what she calls the "contamination factor."

In simpler terms, she said people aren’t properly disposing of their recyclable materials. 

The city discovered that recycling bins were being used for general trash pick-ups rather than for actual recycling.

Smith determined that it’s costing the city of Winter Garden roughly $1 million to maintain and keep up with the rising costs of temporary labor and fleet operations.

She also said that city employees are required to put in a lot of overtime to cover the growing demand, which also accounts for those rising costs.

A financial analysis drafted by the city indicates that tipping fees, which includes the costs of taking those items to the landfill, cost more than $211,000 a year.

The temporary labor category makes up one of the largest cost for these services, amounting to $248,664.

Smith said the cost of overtime for city employees has grown exponentially to $256,187.

She says employees are all working 50-plus hours a week.

Despite these increasing costs, residents like Diane and Bill Rodriguez, say they’d be willing to pay extra if it means they can keep recycling in their city. 

“Instead of filling up our landfills, we can reuse this stuff," Diane Rodriguez said. "And if it costs us a little bit of money, it’s worth it, because now, you’re not filling up our landfills."

Diane and her husband Bill say they take the extra time to follow the instructions by rinsing containers and removing labels on select items.

But they realize not everyone is willing to do the same.

“I think you just need to re-educate people and maybe have some incentives that way they’re more inclined to do it,” Diane Rodriguez said.

Ray Poster, who has lived in Winter Garden since 2015, said he believes citizens are already doing more than enough by simply recycling those raw materials.

“Why can’t they clean them up and decontaminate them?" Poster said. "People are being good enough to realize that this stuff is recyclable. Now they want people to clean it up."

Smith said that residents who want to recycle will still have the option, but they will have to do so on their own.

“There’s a local facility within Winter Garden boundaries that will accept cardboard paper and aluminum for no charge from residents, and there are others throughout Central Florida that offer similar services,” Smith said.

Winter Garden citizens already pay for disposal of solid waste, but they do not pay for recycling.

Smith said that if recycling services were to continue in Winter Garden, there would have to be rate increases to cover the rising costs.